Gender Atlas launched to promote girls’ education

To promote girls education even in the remotest area of the country, Ministry of Human Resource Development, Department of School Education and Literacy has recently launched digital gender Atlas, a tool developed by UNICEF.

The Atlas tool will identify the low geographic areas where there is limited or no access to education especially in the schedule castes, schedule tribes and Muslim minorities on specific gender related education indicators.

The Atlas is available on MHRD website and is ready to use by the states, districts, education institutions. The focus of the tool is to identify vulnerable girls and challenged girls and impart equitable education to them.

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Ecologist Madhav Gadgil wins Tyler Prize

Renowned ecologist Madhav Gadgil has been chosen for the prestigious 2015 Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement.

The prize, instituted in 1973, is awarded by the international Tyler Prize Executive Committee with the administrative support of the University of Southern California.

Prof. Gadgil, who was Chairman of the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel (WGEEP), will share the $200,000 cash prize with noted American marine ecologist Dr. Jane Lubchenco for their work in changing policy and specifically for their “leadership and engagement in the development of conservation and sustainability policies in the United States, India and internationally”, said a release issued by the University of Southern California on Monday.

Both winners will receive the prize and a gold medallion at a private ceremony in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles on April 24. The day before, Dr. Lubchenco and Dr. Gadgil will deliver public lectures on their work at The Forum at the University of Southern California.

“Both of these laureates have bridged science with cultural and economic realities - like the impact on indigenous peoples in India or fishing communities in the United States - to advance the best possible conservation policies,” said the release.

Prof. Gadgil’s landmark report on the preservation of the unique ecosystem of the Western Ghats and the inclusion of local committees was especially noted as the reason behind his award that recognised his engagement with the public and other academic fields to “position him as a leading voice on environmental issues in India.”

Also noted were Dr. Gadgil’s contributions behind the crafting of India’s National Biodiversity Act, 2002.

Dr. Lubchenco, who was recently named first-ever U.S. Science Envoy for the Ocean by the United States Department of State, gets the award for her dedication to raising awareness of the importance of the ocean and the need to protect ocean ecosystems, notably during her tenure from 2009 to 2013 as administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

The award commended her drive and passion in restoring fisheries and improving ocean health, which culminated in the unique “catch share” model – an alternative rights-based approach to fisheries attempting to change the economic incentives for fishermen that has been adopted by a number of regional fishery management councils in Alaska, along the Pacific Coast, the Gulf of Mexico and other regions across the American seaboard.

Keywords: Madhav Gadgil, Western Ghats, Tyler Prize

Vedanta - It's Good to be a Loser

SUDHAMAHI REGUNATHAN





What happens when you `lose'? Besides the fact that winning and losing are relative terms, it is really not so bad to lose once in a while. Sometimes, by losing, you could gain more. It is the one who loses, so to say, who actually keeps rolling. This is not to glorify losing, but to turn the focus to a balanced development rather than glorify the obsession to win always.Shiva and Parvati were playing dice. Each time Shiva rolled the dice, Parvati's supporters squealed with joy , while Shiva's companions cried in anguish. Parvati kept winning. Once Shiva lost the last piece of cloth he wore, to Parvati. “Why do you always lose?“ asked Shiva's supporters.
Shiva lost to win. In the be ginning, all was one, the undifferentiated, motionless One. When it separated into two, Purusha and Prakriti, there was Creation, there was activity .Narada taught them the game of dice. When Shiva plays with Parvati, it is the play of Purusha with Prakriti, inactivity with activity .
The wager was a hug. If Shiva won, he would embrace Parvati. Beautiful as that sounds, people were worried because once again, Shiva would envelop Parvati in himself and return to the inactive state of Ardhanarishvara. This would mean all activity would come to a standstill; it would be the end of the world. So, it was crucial for Parvati to win and for Shiva to lose, so that there's no break in activity .
To keep activity going, to maintain harmony and balance, we have to experience both, winning and losing. This way , the cosmic play ensures that the cycle goes on.

ICMR studies data to fight drug-resistant infections

Roli Srivastava

Pune:





Antibiotic resistance data from four big hospitals s being studied and analysed or the first time in India to help forecast drug-resistance patterns that may surface in uture.The Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) has been on the resistance trail since last year. It had set up six nodal centres at four hospitals -two at PGI, Chandigarh, and Christian Medical College, Vellore, and one each at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Delhi and JIPMER, Puducherry .
The ICMR's antimicrobial surveillance and research network has been tracking resistance pattern of six pathogens causing diarrhoea, typhoid, fungal nfections and infections that patients acquire in hospitals.
“We initiated these pro ects in early 2014 and we are now analysing the first year's data. We did not have a nationally representative data on pathogens that cause 80% of infections. It is important to get a handle on what is the drug resistance prevalence n these six pathogenic groups,“ said Dr Kamini Wa lia from the division of epidemiology and communicable diseases, ICMR.
The data will be used to forecast the drug-resistance pattern to guide clinicians, she added.
There is alarm over rising resistance to antibiotics in India, largely attributed to their indiscriminate use to treat routine infections like cough, cold and fever and their over-the-counter availability. Using antibiotics inappropriately , such as stopping the dosage mid-course has added to the resistance.
There are broad estimates and observations so far -resistance to carbapenem (the strongest class of antibiotic) is 50 to 60% and in the case of acenotobacter (a hospital bug) seen among ICU patients, the resistance is 70 to 80%.However, there is no accurate resistance data, with most hospitals not reporting such figures, fearing an impact on patients' footfall.
“The project would help design a standard treatment guideline and physicians will be able to decide what antibiotic should be given,“ Dr Walia said.
The surveillance and research network will expand to 15 more hospitals across the country , which will feed their data into these centres that will in turn map the resistance pattern.
“In India, there are no statistics. Anyone who comes to the clinic or OPD is not tested for microbiological examination. A test is conducted only in the case of in-patients,“ V Balaji, head of microbiology , CMC, Vellore said.
Though there is an antibiotic policy in place since 2011, officials said that surveys have revealed the compliance was restricted only a to few hospitals.
For the full report, log on to http:www.timesofindia..com

Debating religious conversions

The operative word in ‘freedom of religion’ is ‘freedom’, and not ‘religion’. Religious conversion is thus a matter of individual choice guaranteed as a fundamental right under the Constitution, and not a collective right of any religious community to proselytise. What matters is not whether such conversions are necessary but whether the individual is allowed the freedom of conscience and free profession, practice and propagation of a religion of his or her choice provided under Article 25. Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh in calling for a debate on religious conversion, framed his argument poorly: “Is conversion necessary? Can social service not be performed in India without resorting to conversion?” Conversion may not be necessary for anyone but the person converting, but that is no reasoning at all against religious conversion. And, of course, social service can be performed without resorting to conversion. Christian missionaries have combined propagation of religion with social service but unless cases of force or fraud are proven, there can be no objection to such a combination of religious and social work. True, as Mr. Singh said, it should be possible for members of all religions to prosper in India without promoting conversions. But this is not to say that promotion of religious conversions is in itself wrong. That there is no socio-economic need for religious conversion cannot be used to push through any restrictive anti-conversion laws. Existing laws are more than adequate to prevent forcible or fraudulent conversions.

Curiously, Mr. Singh used the possible changes in demographic profile and character of India that religious conversions would entail as an argument against religious conversion. Any restriction on religious conversion, whether on ground of social tension or changing demographics or national character, will amount to a serious violation of the fundamental right to freedom of religion. What is important is that India survives as a secular nation, and not that it remains a country with an unchanged religious mix. As a senior Minister in the government, Mr. Singh should not have called upon the religious minorities to debate anti-conversion laws in the context he set out. Anti-conversion laws cannot be a means to protect religious communities, whether they are a minority or they constitute the majority. It is people who need legal protection and not religions. The threat to the idea of India is less from changes in demographic profile than from attempts to impose a rigid, unifying ‘national’ culture.

Keywords: Rajnath Singh, Freedom, Religion, Religious conversion Constitution, 

Amitav Ghosh is only Indian on Booker list

CAPE TOWN





Amitav Ghosh on Tuesday emerged as the only Indian author among 10 finalists for this year's Man Booker International Prize for his contribution to English language writing.Kolkata born, 58-year-old Ghosh, had narrowly missed out on the Booker Prize back in 2008 when he was shortlisted for his work Sea of Poppies. The international version of the popular literary prize, to be held in London on May 19, is awarded every two years to a living author who has published fiction either originally in English or whose work is generally available in English translation.
The winner is chosen solely at the discretion of the judging panel and there are no submissions from publishers. “This is a most interesting and enlightening list of finalists,“ said Jonathan Taylor, chairman of the Booker Prize Foundation.
“For the first time authors included in the list are from 10 countries with six new nationalities,“ said Taylor. They are from Libya, Mozambique, Guadeloupe, Hungary, South Africa and Congo and the proportion of writers translated into English is greater than ever before at 80 per cent.
“The judges have had an exhilarating experience reading for this prize we have ranged across the world and entered the vision of writers who offer an extraordinary variety of experiences,“ said Professor Marina Warner, chair of the judging panel. The awards comes with a £60,000 cheque and can be won only once in an author's lifetime.

Vedanta

SRI CHINMOY





The Secret Key to Life
The world exists just because love still exists on earth. If this one divine quality left the world, then there could be no existence on earth. Where there is love, pure, divine love, there is fulfilment. What is love? If love means possessing someone or something, then that is not real love, that is not pure love. Real love is giving and becoming one with everything, with humanity and divinity .
Where there is Oneness, it is all pure love. If we give someone something and expect something in return because we feel that the person is under obligation to give us something back, this is human love. is human love.But if we can do something unconditionally, that is divine love.
Divine love makes no demand. It is spontaneous is unlimited and constant. It is unlimited in every way . It is like the Sun.The Sun is for everybody . Everybody can use sunlight, but if we keep our doors and windows shut, what can the sun do?
Divine love at every moment illumines us, and in illumination, we see total fulfilment.There is no possession, only a feeling of oneness. This is the easiest path. This love is most convincing, most effective.
It is here on earth that we shall hear the soul-stirring flute of immortality . We do not have to go to Heaven or any other realm of consciousness. Right here, now, we can hear the message of liberation, enlightenment and divine fulfilment if we love for love's sake, love for God's sake.